SYDNEY – Up to 18 employees of Australian billionaire James Packer’s Crown Resorts are believed to have been detained in China, reports said Saturday.

The gaming company said a group of staff were being questioned, with the Department of Foreign Affairs working to confirm whether Australians were involved.

The Australian Financial Review reported that at least 18 were being held, including three Australians who are part of the group’s sales and marketing team in China. One was said to be a senior executive.

“Crown believes that a number of our employees in China are being questioned by local authorities,” the company told the newspaper.

“At this time we can provide no further details.” The Australian government said it was aware of the issue and “consular officials are seeking to confirm these reports with the relevant Chinese authorities”.

It is not clear whether any charges have been laid or why the employees are being questioned.

Crown operates casinos across the world, including in Macau, where revenues have been hit hard by a Chinese corruption crackdown which has driven away many high-rollers.

Graft has become endemic in China and President Xi Jinping launched a much-publicised drive against it after he came to power in 2012.

Packer, who is engaged to pop diva Mariah Carey, owns 53 percent of Crown Resorts but resigned as chairman in 2015.

BANGKOK – The head of Thailand’s royal advisory council will stand in as regent while the country grieves over the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and awaits for his son to formally succeed him, the government said.

Mourners lit candles and recited prayers before dawn on Saturday outside Bangkok’s riverside Grand Palace, where the remains of the king will lie for months before a traditional royal cremation.

The world’s longest-reigning monarch, King Bhumibol died on Thursday in a Bangkok hospital, at the age of 88.

The government has said Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn wants to grieve with the people and leave the formal succession until later, when parliament will invite him to ascend the throne.

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Thailand’s Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, soon to be King

Source:

AFP

Reuters

Bangkok Post

The Nation/ANN

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Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said in an interview broadcast on state television late on Friday that there was no uncertainty about the succession but, in the interim, the head of the powerful Privy Council would have to step in as regent.

“There must be a regent for the time being in order not to create a gap,” Wissanu said.

“Even though there is no problem, because we have a clear answer, the head of the privy council must be regent temporarily.”

“This situation will not be used for long,” he added, without mentioning by name Privy Council head 96-year-old Prem Tinsulanonda, a former army chief and prime minister.

CANDLES LIT AT DAWN

Prince Vajiralongkorn does not enjoy the same adoration his father earned over a lifetime on the throne. He has married and divorced three times, and has spent much of his life outside Thailand, often in Germany.

The king’s remains were taken in a convoy on Friday through Bangkok’s ancient quarter to the Grand Palace, winding past thousands of Thais dressed in black, many of them holding aloft portraits of a monarch who was worshipped as a father figure.

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Large crowds gather as convoy transports Thai king’s body to Grand Palace

Source:

Reuters

AFP

The Straits Times

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Buddhist monks chanted prayers beside his coffin on Saturday as Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn came to pay her respects.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the palace during the morning and some who had arrived before dawn lit candles. “I didn’t ever want to hear this news although it couldn’t be avoided. All we can do now is hope that he will rest in peace,” said Sakhon Sondee from the eastern province of Surin.

The king had been in poor health the past several years and his death plunged the Southeast Asian nation of 67 million people into grief.

Most Thais have known no other monarch and King Bhumibol’s picture is hung in almost every house, school and office.

People in the capital and in towns across the country dressed in black. The government has decreed that no festivities be held for a period of 30 days, the first month of one year of official mourning, but shopping malls were open on Saturday.

‘CRITICISM AND ANALYSIS’ FORBIDDEN

The Nation newspaper said government guidelines for the media stipulated that TV programmes and advertising “must not contain improper scenes such as entertaining, dancing or violent acts”, and presenters must dress in white or black.

It said information related to the king’s passing must be approved by authorised bodies, while criticism or analysis would not be allowed.

Thailand’s strict lese-majeste laws, which have been applied rigorously since a military government took power in a 2014 coup, have left little room for public discussion about the succession.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called in a statement on Thailand’s military government to lift the censorship order on broadcasters “While CPJ sympathises with the Thai people over the passing of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, we lament that the government has resorted to crude censorship at this sensitive time,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia programme coordinator.

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Thais in Singapore and Thailand mourn passing of King Bhumibol

Source:

Reuters

AFP

The Straits Times

The New Paper

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The king stepped in to calm crises on several occasions during his reign and many Thais worry about a future without him. The military has for decades invoked its duty to defend the monarchy to justify its intervention in politics.

Military government leader Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said after the king’s death that security was his top priority and he ordered extra troops deployed around the country.

Thailand has endured bomb attacks and economic worries recently while rivalry simmers between the military-led establishment and populist political forces after a decade of turmoil including two coups and deadly protests.

The junta has promised an election next year and pushed through a constitution to ensure its oversight of civilian governments. It looks firmly in control for a royal transition.

331856

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A look back at Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s life

Source:

Reuters

AFP

The Straits Times

The Nation/ANN

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When out of the blue the word lanshouxianggu began trending on Chinese social-networking sites, many internet users were left scratching their heads.

Lanshouxianggu literally means blue thin chestnut mushroom but it made no sense to users. In case you are wondering what the whole fuss is about, a company in Shenzhen registered its name as blue thin chestnut mushroom, or lanshouxianggu, on Oct 13.

Just to make it more confusing, the company’s main business includes equipment manufacturing, trade and engineering.

It’s not the first time that internet memes have been registered as trademarks.

On Aug 8, Chinese female swimmer Fu Yuanhui said “I’ve been using honghuangzhili” indicating she had used up all her strength, the word went viral. Honghuangzhili, which means pre-historical force, was registered as trademark two days later.

On Aug 29, Wang Jianlin, China’s property tycoon, said “You have to set a small goal like making 100 million first” in a TV show which the internet on fire. Zhuantayigeyi, or making 100 million, was registered as a trademark a week later.

The reference to lanshouxianggu comes from a video clip that went viral where a young man in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, complains to his girlfriend with in Mandarin but with his strong local accent.

In the video, he cries out lanshouxianggu repeatedly in local accent, which in fact means upset (lanshou) and wanna cry (xianggu).

His accent and lyrical tone gave the video a vibe of humour and swept social media immediately. People photoshopped his sad face on a blue small mushroom image.

Some websites with more scientific bent of mind, such as guokr.com, China’s premiere popular science website, did discover the fact that blue mushrooms do exist in the nature and were not merely magic of photoshop.

Meet Entoloma hochstetteri, or sky blue mushroom, a kind of blue fungus whose stem’s diameter is just 5 millimeter. It was first discovered in New Zealand.

The country even selected the image of the blue mushroom on its banknote with face value of NZ$50 (S$49) to show the nature diversity in the country.

In 2002, New Zealand post even released a commemorative stamp.

And for foodies who want to eat it: no, it is not edible and most species of this kind are poisonous. Leave them alone.

Are you lanshouxianggu now?

The commerce Ministry’s Internal Trade Department will closely monitor the price of black clothes, while clothing and fabric manufacturers have insisted that the supply will be adequate within a week.

The government has officially announced a national mourning period of 30 days, while government and state-owned-enterprise officials will wear black clothes for a year.

Yesterday a lot of people flocked to markets to buy black or white clothing to take part in the mourning. Some shops reportedly increased the prices of these clothes to between Bt150 (S$5.90) and Bt200, up from the normal average of Bt80-Bt100.

Director-general Nuntawan Sakuntanaga said yesterday that during the period of national sorrow following the death of |His Majesty the King, the department would send official teams to monitor prices of black clothing to prevent unscrupulous traders from overcharging or hoarding.

Anyone conducting such practices could be found in breach of the Price of Goods and Services Act and subject to a Bt140,000 fine and/or a maximum of seven years in jail, she said.

Consumers who believe they have been charged unfair prices can complain to the department’s hotline at 1569.

Nuntawan added that after the department consulted fabric and clothing manufacturers, they confirmed that there would be shortage of black items for only a few days and that they should be able to produce enough to respond to the high demand within a week.

332459

Photo Gallery

Large crowds gather as convoy transports Thai king’s body to Grand Palace

Source:

Reuters

AFP

The Straits Times

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“The supply of black shirts may be low for a few days, but garment manufacturers have insisted that there will not be a shortage, while they will quote prices as normal.”

She said people should not rush to buy black clothing but should wait until production is ramped up and there are |more good-quality designs to choose from.

To help relieve the costs faced by government officials, the department will coordinate with garment manufacturers on the sale of black clothing at factory cost to the Commerce Ministry in Nonthaburi on Wednesday.

The Commerce Ministry will go ahead with the Bangkok International Gift Fair and Bangkok International House-ware Fair (BIG & BIH) and the “Creative Thailand” event from October 19-23 at the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibi-tion Centre (Bitec) in Bang Na district.

332244

Photo Gallery

Thais in Singapore and Thailand mourn passing of King Bhumibol

Source:

Reuters

AFP

The Straits Times

The New Paper

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Malee Choklumlerd, director-general of the International Trade Promotion Department, said the fair would be held as scheduled as foreign buyers had already confirmed their participation in the event.

More than 480 companies will set up 13,000 exhibition booths to show off their offerings to both Thai and international buyers. On retail day, sales of more than Bt1.5 billion are expected.